New York City – US Attorney General Loretta Lynch appeared Thursday on the “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to explain the government’s position on the Apple vs FBI case. US top cop went on TV to try to explain audiences why Apple should help the FBI unlock an iPhone tied to the San Bernardino terrorist attack.
Apple has faced an intense fight with the FBI since a federal judge ordered to the company to disable the auto-erase function that blocks a device when too many erroneous passcodes are entered into the phone.
The company has publicly opposed to the FBI efforts to crack open an iPhone 5C owned by one of the terrorists involved in the San Bernardino, California massacre last year. Apple has said this is a matter of privacy, the FBI claims the phone maker must help out of security issues.
Now, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch has made a public appearance to explain the FBI position on this case. She said during the show that she understood privacy is important to everybody but that the government is not asking the phone company to spy everyone.
Eddy Cue explains iPhone position on Univision
On Wednesday, Eddy Cue, Apple’s head of Internet software and services, appeared in an interview on the Spanish-language channel Univision to discuss Apple’s opposition to FBI petition.
Cue made during his interview the disturbing prediction that someday the government will want Apple to turn on a user’s camera or microphone.
Cue exposed many of the concerns Apple has argued against helping the FBI crack into the iPhone. The company claims this is a key to a backdoor that will make millions of iPhone and iPads susceptible to hackers.
“What they want is you to give a key to the back door of your house and you do not have the key. Since you don’t have the key, they want to change the lock. And that key, once it exists, exists not only for us. Terrorists, criminals, pirates, all too will find that key to open all phones.”
“It’s very narrow, it’s very focused.”
Just one day after Cue comments on Univision, Lynch made her own comments on TV. She said they are not asking for a backdoor responding to the comments made by cue just a day before.
She continued saying that they were asking them to do what their customer wants. This confusing quote comes as the phone really belongs to the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which employed one of the two terrorists killed in a shootout with police after the attack. She ended saying that what they were asking for is very narrow and very focused.
By narrow, she means removing the password function on the shooter’s iPhone. The FBI hopes the phone’s contents will reveal more about the terrorists’ activities leading up to the attack.
Source: CNET